{"title":"JUDICIAL OFFICERS’ EXPERIENCES OF INCLUDING VICTIM IMPACT REPORTS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS","authors":"A. Phillips, Zurina Abdulla","doi":"10.15270/57-1-905","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Judicial officers do not consistently include victim impact reports (VIRS) because of internal and external factors experienced in securing such victim impact reports. This results in the inconsistent inclusion of VIRS during the criminal justice process, which in turn hinders the promotion of victim rights. A qualitative study explored judicial officers’ experiences of including VIRS during the criminal justice process. Findings alluded to the lack of legislation, a gap in the literature and a need for specialised victim services. A need for guidelines was identified to expand on the victim empowerment programme for social workers, enabling them to work within the criminal justice system and to include VIRS during the criminal justice process.","PeriodicalId":44671,"journal":{"name":"Social Work-Maatskaplike Werk","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social Work-Maatskaplike Werk","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.15270/57-1-905","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"SOCIAL WORK","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Judicial officers do not consistently include victim impact reports (VIRS) because of internal and external factors experienced in securing such victim impact reports. This results in the inconsistent inclusion of VIRS during the criminal justice process, which in turn hinders the promotion of victim rights. A qualitative study explored judicial officers’ experiences of including VIRS during the criminal justice process. Findings alluded to the lack of legislation, a gap in the literature and a need for specialised victim services. A need for guidelines was identified to expand on the victim empowerment programme for social workers, enabling them to work within the criminal justice system and to include VIRS during the criminal justice process.
期刊介绍:
This South African academic peer-reviewed journal publishes articles, book reviews and commentary from all field of social work. Manuscripts covering amongst others the following, are considered for publication: social work, welfare organizations, society, social welfare, family and child care, community work, substance abuse, substance dependence, welfare law, etc.